"Yes, but why didn't they do it for everything? You're afraid of the dark, aren't you? Because of that tornado you experienced as a kid."
How did he know that?
"You wrote that down too. It's all there in your laptop," he explained. "Every little detail." The way he said it made my face warm. "But big brother made it all better, didn't he?"
I ripped my hand from his, which only made him laugh out loud.
"He's good at that, isn't he? Priest. Making all your problems go away. Or maybe they're his problems. What did you say to him after he came home from killing Marco?"
"I—" My mouth parted. "I didn't say anything. He was never proven to have done that. Marco's killer was neverfound." I'd said that so much over the years it was ingrained in my brain. It was an automatic response.
"No wonder they fried your brain. You can't even acknowledge what he is. You have to accept it, Delaney. Your brother is a psychopath, determined to make you his. He'll do whatever it takes to make that happen, including murder."
I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes tight. "Stop!"
"Fine by me." Moth stopped walking, and I ran into his back. I took a step back and opened my eyes, slowly lowering my hands. "You wanted proof, right? Here it is." He kicked his foot out and it hit something under the snow with a thud. Something black came uncovered, and I leapt further back.
"What is that?" I stared at the boot. The black boot, that looked eerily similar to the one Moth was wearing.
"Take a look for yourself." He stepped away and motioned to it. "Look at what your brother, your lover, did."My body shook with terror. I couldn't move. Moth shoved me forward and I tumbled to my knees, right beside the lump in the snow.
"Look at it!" he screamed so loudly I jumped into action, swiping my hand over the mass. It was hard and frozen solid. A chest. I had known, in my heart, when I saw the boot, that it was a body. I knew, but touching it gave me no choice but to accept it. The male in the snow had been wearing a black shirt with a red snake on it. I looked back up at Moth. He stood there smugly, wearing the same exact shirt.
"Keep going."He demanded. I shook my head as hot tears slid down my cheeks. I didn't want to. None of this was making any sense!"I said, keep going. Find out exactly who your brother killed two nights ago."
"Two nights ago?" My voice came out hoarse as if I'd been screaming for hours. I'd been having the perfect night, and Priest had... murdered someone because of it? "Priest didn't do this."
I stood, but Moth kicked my back, forcing my face into the snow, right by the frozen corpse's head, still buried. I crawled away from the body and scrambled to my feet on the other side.
"You're just trying to frame him," I accused. "You said so yourself, you're just like him. If he's a murderer, then so are you. Who is it?" I asked. I pointed to the body. "Who did you kill to try to get Priest in trouble?"An evil grin spread over his face.
“Oh, I’m so glad you phrased it like that. Who is it, you ask?” Moth bent down and swiped the snow off the head of the body and then looked up to see the horrified expression on my bloodless face. “It’s me.”
Rule 40 - Priest
Ghosts don’t have to follow rules.
"Where's Laney?" I demanded when I made it to our suite and found it empty. I knew one of the many ghosts in this fucking place was listening. I had to suspend my disbelief and accept that this was the fucked up world I was living in right now. A moment later, a young woman appeared against the wall.
"The romance writer?"
"Yes. Do you know where she is?" My patience was nonexistent. If what Carson said was true, that we'd been picked, then we needed to leave before they found out and tried to stop us.
"I might. The Vincent is a big place. It's hard to navigate. Is it important?"
"How long have you been here?" I demanded.
"Too long." She stepped forward. "Why are you looking for her so frantically? There's all the time in the world."
"No, there's not," I snapped. "You can disappear now. Or float away, whatever you do, but you can leave if you're not going to help me."
"I couldn't help you even if I wanted to." She laughed. "Isaw you talking to Carson in the mirror room. For someone who hates that room so much, he sure visits it more often than anyone else. He told you the truth, so now you know. The Vincent calls for blood, and someone wants her."
"Chosen her to what? None of this makes sense."
"Paint it red." She shrugged.
"Paint it red?"The more I dug deeper into this hotel's secrets, the more confused I became. I looked away for one moment and when my eyes returned to the ghost woman, she was gone. We had to get out of here.
